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Jake Owen became a star so quickly that he didn't have time to memorize any Country Music Rule Book – which made it that much easier to toss it out the window.

Guided by sheer musical instinct, a drive for self-improvement and a willingness to experiment, the singer-songwriter has crafted Barefoot Blue Jean Night as one of the most innovative and refreshing country collections of the year. The CD's title tune is already exploding as the biggest hit of Owen's career to date.

"I never wanted to be the guy that did everything the way you're supposed to do it," says the candid and outgoing music maker. "And that led me to make this record, which I think really represents who I am more than anything I've ever recorded. If nothing else happens after this, I can honestly say that I did the absolute best that I can do. I've never felt this good about music, or anything in my career, as I do right now."

His buoyant optimism is justified. Barefoot Blue Jean Night brims with vocal self-confidence and a superbly chosen stack of songs. The pumping energy in such country rockers as "Anywhere with You," "Apple Pie Moonshine," "The One That Got Away" and "Nobody Feelin' No Pain" contrasts dramatically with the feverish thumper "Wide Awake" or the crunchy, edgy and atmospheric "Alone with You."

"Keepin' it Country" is a Jake Owen statement of purpose. "Heaven" is a smiling, seductive come-on. On the other hand, there's the touching, lovely and philosophical acoustic ballad "The Journey of Your Life." The frothing power, cascading rhythm and head-to-the-sky vocal shout of "Settin' the World on Fire" mark it as a blue-chip, blue-collar rocker. And what more can be said of "Barefoot Blue Jean Night," surely the most joyous Southern celebration on disc today?

All of these sounds mean a new beginning for the hit maker. Jake Owen has previously enjoyed major-league success with such performances as 2006's "Startin' with Me," 2008's "Don't Think I Can't Love You," and 2009's "Eight Second Ride." His revival of "Life in a Northern Town" with Sugarland and Little Big Town in 2008 earned him Grammy and CMA Award nominations. Owen was named 2009's Top New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music. But nothing, he says, compares to the impact his new music is making.

"Everything is amazing right now. I have other artists, song publishers, promotion reps, people at other record labels coming up to me and saying, 'Jake, I really like your new song. We're pulling for you, dude.' That validates everything I've ever done up to this point. Now, I have people cheering for me and that is an awesome feeling."

In 2005, Jake went from performing in Florida bars to moving to Nashville and within months he had a Music Row song-publishing contract. Less than a year later, he was signed by RCA Records and was on the charts with his first two singles, "Yee Haw" and "Startin' with Me." He went from being a speck in a stadium crowd at a Kenny Chesney concert to opening shows for the superstar. Then Brad Paisley took him on the road as Owen scored his third hit, 2007's "Something About a Woman." In 2008, Owen opened shows for Sugarland and this year, Keith Urban asked Jake to be his touring partner on the Get Closer 2011 World tour.

"I would say I have had a pretty great life," he admits. "As far as me struggling in Nashville, I can't say that I did that. A lot of singer/songwriter's come to town and play all the honky-tonks and bars, hoping to meet someone and worrying and struggling. Mine's not that story.

"For a long time, I tried not to really tell my story, because I felt like everybody thought, 'Look at this lucky kid.' So I've always been a little hesitant to talk about that, even to be a little ashamed of it.

"Then I started thinking. This is my story. This is what I did so I should be proud, not ashamed. Yes, I feel like I was very, very fortunate but I am also extremely grateful that everything happened the way it did. I truly believe that everything always works out the way it is supposed to."

There was a downside to his good fortune. Because of being so suddenly thrust into the spotlight on the road, Jake Owen never really got to know the Nashville country community. Because he wrote his own songs, he knew only a handful of the hundreds of gifted song craftspeople in Music City. So in making his third album, he addressed the missing parts of his "Nashville education." Jake Owen had co-written nearly all the songs on his first two records. For his third, he reached out into a songwriting community he had never tapped.

"I searched out songs. I searched out songwriters. I got to pick songs from this amazing community of writers, and I'd never done that. Before, I'd written everything because I felt like that was expected of me. On this record, I wanted to include the incredibly talented writers in this town."

He also set out to find a more personal sound. In search of a new musical direction, he initially teamed up with legendary producer Tony Brown, who is famed for his work with George Strait, Reba, Steve Earle, Vince Gill and dozens of other hit makers. Brown produced the first five songs that Owen chose for his album.

But Jake Owen still felt restless. Since he had kept Rodney Clawson's co-written "Keepin' it Country" for more than a year without recording it, the singer felt obligated to the songwriter. So he approached Clawson about producing the song. Clawson's songwriting credits include George Strait's "I Saw God Today," Big & Rich's "Lost in This Moment" and Jason Aldean's hits "Hicktown," "Amarillo Sky," "Johnny Cash," "Crazy Town" and "Why." So Tony Brown gave Owen his blessing to continue experimenting with the sound of his record.

To the singer's surprise, Clawson suggested bringing in Canada's Joey Moi as a co-producer. Moi is noted for his work with the rock band Nickelback. This is his first experience with country music.

"Joey came to town with all these extra ideas," Owen comments. "I'd always listened to people say what you're supposed to do and not supposed to do on a country record. He blew my mind.

"Instantly, when I started to work with these guys, I felt, 'Wow. They get it.' They had the sound I'd been hearing in my head." So after two CDs, a big ACM award and a string of radio successes, Jake Owen has come into his own.

He observes, "When you get a record deal, no one hands you a manual or an instruction booklet and tells you how you're supposed to conduct your professional life. I was a kid straight out of college, thrown out on these massive stages. I really didn't know anything. I had to find out who I am."

His roots are fairly easy to describe. Jake Owen was raised in the coastal town of Vero Beach, FL. He and his fraternal twin Jarrod grew up in the sand and surf. Both boys attended Florida State. That's where music became Jake Owen's true focus. He suffered a severe shoulder injury while wake boarding. This ended his days on the university's golf team. During his recuperation, his left arm was in a sling. Jake realized that even with his arm in a sling, he could hold a guitar so he started playing guitar and writing songs.

"This scar that I have on my shoulder reminds me about the one dark time in my life," he recalls. "It took that accident to make me realize that I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing. What I was supposed to be doing, was something that fulfilled me. Music."

After his recovery, Jake became a regular club entertainer. He quit college just shy of graduation to make his pilgrimage to Music City. Then he was catapulted into the country-music spotlight. Now comes the real work.

"If you want to get better at your craft, you have to push yourself, take risks and try something different," he reflects. "In order to grow and not be complacent, you have to open your mind, expand your horizons and be grateful. That's what this record represents for me."
Like Jake Owen

Who is LANco? LANco is the people you know and the life you live, reimagined. LANco is the familiar, couched in the extraordinary. LANco is a connection to community built by the bonds of music. They are five best friends making music and working to create something bigger while grinding it out on the road to build an identity. Through this, they became Lancaster & Company, now known as LANco. Everyone touched by their music becomes part of the Company. The band is nothing without the Company. The musical mission statement: Facing all that life has to offer; the good, the bad, and the ugly and embracing it through music.

Formed in 2012, LANco was born of a chance meeting between Howell and Nashville native Lancaster – each performing in bands at the same festival – just as Howell was readying a move to Music City the same week that Lancaster was returning from college. Once in Nashville, Lancaster met Steedly through mutual friends, while Hampton and Baldwin followed shortly thereafter, with the young band gigging at every opportunity.

Mining a catalog of songs written by Lancaster, the group began to develop its sound. Making the most of Howell’s day job in a carpet warehouse, the guys would slip in at night to rehearse on the little-traveled second level, loading their gear up and down with a forklift until they realized they could safely hide it with carpet between rehearsals.

But it was Lancaster’s side job – working a concession stand at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena – that opened a big door for the band when he spotted producer Jay Joyce at a concert in 2014. A fan of Joyce’s work as producer of such acts as Little Big Town and Eric Church, Lancaster recalls with a smile, “I closed down my hot dog stand and walked up to Jay and just introduced myself.”

The conversation brought an invitation from Joyce for Lancaster to share some songs that he’d written, and shortly thereafter, for a band audition.

“One week we’re playing in a carpet warehouse, and a few weeks later, we’re playing live in Jay Joyce’s studio,” marvels Lancaster, “and he’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve gotta make a record; let’s do this.’”

The first result of their collaboration is LANco’s four-song EP, Extended Play. Featured tracks include the lead single, “Long Live Tonight,” as well as “We Do,” “American Love Story” and “Trouble Maker.” The EP offers first-time LANco listeners a taste of the distinctive style that defines the band’s music, from production to songwriting. Download “Extended Play” here and stream it on Spotify here.

“It’s country music in a way that hasn’t been done before,” Lancaster observes. “No other band that’s out right now has the production and the dynamics of the music that I think that we have in ours.”

Carrying forward one of the core traditions of great country music, Lancaster adds that you’ll find “aspects of classic country songwriting within the music; we have stories being told.” But even in its storytelling, LANco is carving a lyrical niche, with writing designed to offer “unique perspectives of very universal situations.”

Now looking forward to the release of their upcoming full-length debut album – also produced by Joyce – LANco is among the first acts signed to Sony Music Nashville since the arrival of new Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman. Assigned to the label group’s Arista Nashville imprint (home to Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and more), the band was an immediate win with Goodman, who offered them a deal on the spot the first time he heard them live.

Indeed, the band’s live performance energy is becoming one of their undeniable calling cards – and a big part of that is being able to engage the audience.

“I want people to not just hear the music, but be a part of the music. All the songs that we’re playing and singing, they’re really talking about people’s lives, and they’re talking about situations that every person’s familiar with, and we’re doing it with a lot of energy and a lot of crowd participation. I always go out in the crowd and sing, and we’re very interactive.